


Fawn

by RainbowArches



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Obligatory cabin fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2015-03-26
Packaged: 2018-03-19 19:26:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3621486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowArches/pseuds/RainbowArches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fury shows up at the cabin while Skye is there and they deal with some avoidance issues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fawn

She hadn’t expected Fury. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see him; it was his cabin. Still, she’d been under the impression that he didn’t use it much, and anyway wasn’t he busy hunting Hydra and rescuing Shield agents?

She’d heard muffled shuffling at the door and she’d dived into the bedroom, hiding behind the door frame with her gun ready. Funny how in dangerous situations like these she stayed calm, but the minute someone swears too loud because they stubbed their toe the room starts shaking.

She listened as the door closed and footsteps moved leisurely around the kitchen. She peeked around the frame and saw Fury unpacking a couple of big paper bags. Mostly food and toiletries it looked like.

She stayed where she was and kept her gun out. She wouldn’t use it because she knew she wouldn’t have to. Fury intended this cabin for people like her; he wouldn’t kick her out. But she didn’t know if he knew she was here or how he would react to stumbling upon an unexpected guest in the cabin that he probably thought was empty. He was a spy. They didn’t like surprises.

As it turned out, she didn’t have to worry. “You coming out anytime soon?”

She put her gun away and stepped out. He had abandoned the groceries for the moment, already turned around expectantly, facing her. “Did Coulson tell you I was here?” she asked.

“No. I didn’t know anyone was going to be here. Can’t say I’m surprised, though. This place’ll probably get a lot of use for the next while.” He went back to unpacking the groceries and putting things away. “Don’t worry. I’m not here to babysit you,” he said. “I’m gone again tomorrow. I’ve been sleeping rough for a long time and I just really missed microwaves and indoor plumbing.” He smirked at her over his shoulder and she huffed a laugh through her nose. “One night, and then you’ll have the place to yourself again.”

Which was sort of a relief, seeing as she barely knew this guy, and she hasn’t been able to talk to anyone without a fight breaking out and an earthquake rattling the windows and everyone’s nerves, but she was also disappointed. She could use the company. Fury must have worked out why she was here, yet he wasn’t bombarding her with questions or shooting her nervous looks. And this was not the Fury who, when Coulson talked about him, appeared in her head as the omniscient demigod (she used to say puppet-master, but that turned out to be untrue) with a thousand secrets and a plan for everything. This Fury only wanted a hot shower and a good night’s sleep. His big toe was poking out of a hole in his sock and he was scrubbing at his beard irritably, like he wanted to shave it off. He was making popcorn, for Christ’s sake. She was the least of his concerns, and that made her want to spend time with him.

“Hey, stay as long as you want. It’s your cabin.”

 

They didn’t talk much and they stayed out of each other’s way. Skye didn’t shake the room once. She knew this wasn’t progress. There was no way she could go the rest of her life avoiding things that upset her. Eventually she’d have to learn how to feel without triggering an earthquake. She should talk to Fury, or at least warn him, but she liked that he didn’t know. She liked the calm and quiet of sharing space with someone who didn’t know. It allowed her to entertain the possibility that he knew and didn’t care, which made it feel like it wasn’t a problem.

At least until supper. He’d made roast, potatoes, peas and carrots (and gravy, which she hadn’t had in forever and it was _so good_ ). She took a seat at the table, assuming that was what he expected her to do- manners, and all that- and he took his plate to the armchair and collapsed in it, putting his feet up on the coffee table. Maybe he wouldn’t mind if she joined him, but maybe he preferred to eat by himself. One of her foster moms had been like that. Maybe he was trying to give her space, but he must know that if she wanted to eat by herself, she wouldn’t have sat at a table that seated six.

These were only vague concerns. She was far more interested in her food than whose privacy was being respected. But then she became aware of Fury’s eyes on her, considering her thoughtfully.

She didn’t sigh sadly, not out loud. “You can ask. I know you want to.”

“I don’t want to ask.”

He sounded sincere. She turned in her chair to face him, just to make sure. He looked sincere. “Really?” she asked. “You’re not at all curious why I’m here?”

“I know why you’re here.”

“Yeah, but don’t you think you should be concerned? You know I have powers but you don’t know what kind or where they came from or how much control I have over them. You don’t even know _me._ Do you even remember my name?”

“Mary Sue Poots.”

“You’re an asshole. I make earthquakes, by the way.”

Fury put his plate on the table and shifted in his chair to see her better. “Skye, do you know how many things haven’t killed me? You are not the biggest bad ever to have graced this planet. An earthquake is the least scary thing I will inevitably survive. And I could say the same for your team.”

“Yeah, well, it’s pretty freaking scary for me, okay?”

“Which is why you need to confront the problem head on. Stay here as long as you like. Take all the time you need to get things under control. But the sooner you tackle the scary thing, the sooner it’ll stop scaring you. So get over it. That’s all I wanted to say.” He shifted back to his earlier position and resumed his supper.

_You’re a dick_ , she thought, but she wasn’t angry or hurt (evidenced by the stillness of the room). _Get over it._ Reminded her of May back before they liked each other. She didn’t like hearing that exactly, but it was a nice change from Jemma’s tiptoeing, Fitz’s if-we-wish-really-hard-everything-will-be-okay, Coulson’s babying. Fury didn’t really know her, so he was treating her like an agent, which probably made it easy for him to give it to her straight. Not that he wouldn’t have done that anyway. She didn’t like it but she appreciated it.

 

She thought he’d be gone by the time she woke up, but when she looked out her bedroom window she could see him standing on the porch in a bathrobe, a cup of coffee in one hand, his gaze intent on something she couldn’t see from here.

She threw on a sweater, poured herself a cup of coffee and joined him outside. It was chilly enough that she could see her breath, and she wished she had put socks on, but curiosity overrode that.

Fury turned around as she stepped outside, and he excitedly beckoned her over. “Look down there,” he said softly, pointing to something in the grass. She stood at his side and followed his finger. There was a small fawn, curled up right in front of them, blinking sweetly at them.

“Oh my God,” Skye gushed in a whisper. The thing was adorable. She’d never seen one this close before. She remembered when she was a kid, her foster siblings pointing out of the car window, shouting “A deer! I saw a deer!” She never looked in time. When she was older she sometimes saw something trotting back into the forest, but she never got a good enough look to see what it was. She was too restless, too loud; she scared them off.

But this little fawn seemed fine to hang out with her for a while.

She looked at Fury, who looked totally enraptured by the delicate little creature, like it was Christmas and he’d been given a puppy.

“I want to keep her,” she said.

“Me too,” he confessed. “But I don’t think her mom will let us.” He nodded towards the woods, and Skye saw a doe galloping towards them.

Fury put a hand on her shoulder and led her backwards a few steps so that the mother could collect her child without feeling threatened. She didn’t seem too concerned. She sniffed the baby, nudged her up, and together they walked back home.

“I can’t believe we got to see that,” Skye said, beaming.

“Yeah,” Fury agreed. “They tend to be very timid animals. These ones were brave, though.”

“Or stupid.”

Fury conceded that with a shrug. “But they were safe with us. That’s the important thing.”

“Sure, but they didn’t know we weren’t dangerous.”

“Now they do.”

Skye sighed. “Why don’t you just tell me to deal with it already? I’m having trouble with metaphors lately. I can’t tell if I’m the fawn or the doe or me or…”

Fury laughed. “Okay. Let’s go inside and start dealing with it. I’m sure Coulson will be checking in soon and if you want to give him a progress report you’ll have to actually make progress.”

They went back inside to warm up before tackling Skye’s list of problems. In the distance, the doe and the fawn, who had been loitering around the edge of the woods, disappeared into the thicket.


End file.
